Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Feast of Saint Philip and Saint James, Apostles

Jesus said to him,
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on
you do know him and have seen him." Philip said to him, "Lord, show
us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I
been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has
seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ´Show us the Father´? Do you not
believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say
to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his
works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you
do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell
you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact,
will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do
whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If
in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. (John 14: 6-14)

Introductory Prayer:Christ, I thank you
for the gift of faith. You know that I believe, but I want my faith to grow. In
knowing you I find meaning, rest and strength. I need you, Lord. I trust in
your loving mercy. You know what I need the most today. All I ask is that you remain
at my side throughout this day. That is enough for me. I want to spend this day
making you happy, pleasing you with my every thought, word and action.

Petition: Christ, help me to
know you and love you more each day.

1. I Am the Way, the
Truth and the Life: “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Christ is the answer to
our problems. Since he is fully God and fully man, his very reality unites
humanity to God in a way never before hoped. It is in following Christ that we
find our way. It is in believing in Christ that we discover truth. It is in
accepting Christ that we gain life. Christians don’t simply follow a set of
rules or believe in some doctrines, we follow a person: Christ. As Archbishop
Fulton Sheen wrote, Christ’s “doctrine was himself” (Life of Christ, p.
153).

2. Show Us the Father:
“Seeing
is believing”, the saying goes. Yet this seems to go contrary to the faith.
Didn’t Christ tell “doubting” Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and
yet have come to believe” (John 20:29)? Here again, Christ seems to be chiding
Philip for wanting to see. However, Christ isn’t correcting Philip for wanting
to see; rather, he didn’t see in Christ what he was supposed to: “Whoever has
seen me has seen the Father.”

At the core of the
doctrine of the Incarnation is that now the “face” of God is made visible in
the person of Christ. Answering the man born blind whom he had just healed when
asked who the Son of Man is, Christ said, “You have seen him” (John 9:37). The
Second Council of Nicaea, in the year 787, reaffirmed against the iconoclasts
the validity of using sacred images, linking religious pictures and art to the
Incarnation (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 476). Man has a need to see
God, and the Incarnation was God’s response.

3. Believe Because of
the Works: Christ helps Philip’s faith by pointing to the works he has
done. The faith cannot be proven in an empirical sense, but there can be many
signs which assist our reason in that act of faith. Christ’s miracles, his
moral stature, his words and ultimately his resurrection are strong arguments
in favor of the faith. Nevertheless we must still decide to believe. Once we
decide, then even greater works than Christ performed in his earthly life can
be worked through us. Don’t wait to understand everything to believe, rather
believe and you will begin to understand.

Conversation with
Christ: Lord,
let me see your face in prayer, in the Eucharist and in my neighbor. Be my way,
my truth and my life. Be my model, my point of reference and my strength.
Without you I can do nothing; with you I can do all things.

Resolution: I will do a conscious
act of charity for my neighbor, making an effort to see Christ in others.

O God, who makes us glad by the yearly festival of Thine Apostles
Philip and James, grant we beseech Thee, that we who rejoice in their
merits may be taught by their example.